WFEL close to £60m Swiss contract
WFEL, the North West military bridge manufacturer is close to winning a £60m contract with the Swiss armed forces.
The contract, which is expected to be rubber-stamped late this year, has the potential to be one of the largest ever for the Stockport company.
WFEL, which is owned by private equity firm Dunedin, has been selected to a final shortlist of one following an international procurement contest.
As part of the selection process a delegation from the Swiss military inspected
WFEL’s advanced manufacturing facilities at its Stockport headquarters.
If agreed, the contract will see WFEL provide a tranche of its next generation bridging system, the Dry Support Bridge (DSB).
The DSB can be deployed from a single launch vehicle to span gaps of up to 46 metres in under 90 minutes and is used by armed forces in a range of humanitarian and military operations.
Last October the business scooped almost £40m in new sales through a deal with the US Department of Defense – one of WFEL’s biggest customers.
Chief executive Ian Wilson said: “We’re now nearing the conclusion of a rigorous procurement contest which has once again proven our engineering capability in the face of leading global competition.
“The contract has the potential to become one of the largest single contracts in our 75-year history in the North West and will help maintain our pace of sustained growth for several years to come.”
In the 2009 financial year WFEL’s turnover rose 38% to £38.4m. Since then it has won several significant contracts.
